“Gazprom is one of the Kremlin’s main cash generators and international political tools. The company subsidizes Russia’s wars in Ukraine and Syria, as well as the Kremlin’s well-funded effort to undermine European unity through propaganda and support for anti-European parties,” writes Ilya Zaslavskiy in the report.

In the brief, Zaslavskiy presents policy recommendations for US and European policy makers as the European Union negotiates Gazprom’s latest pipeline project, Nord Stream 2. Examining previous Gazprom pipeline projects, the author argues that while Gazprom presents itself as an independent competitive firm, it has a consistent track record of acting as an arm of the Kremlin’s foreign and economic policy. Nord Stream 2, Zaslavskiy concludes, will present a major challenge to European law and EU principles and jeopardize the security interests of the US and its European allies.

“In addition to concerns over corrupt business practices, Gazprom’s operations are particularly disconcerting as the Kremlin uses the company to exert control over the post-Soviet space while deepening European dependence on Russian gas,” Zaslavskiy argues in the issue brief.